Introduction to a new story

My name is Lorimer Burn. I live in Guildford, Surrey. This is an ancient county town built on the river Wey where it cuts through the North Downs, a long chalk ridge which extends for about 40 miles from Farnham in the West to Redhill in the East. It's about 30 miles South of London.

I've lived here for 25 years and in that time have owned three Border Collies. I've deeply loved all of them, especially the last two, and when they died I suffered the deepest grief and sense of huge loss. I really believe that the loss of a Border Collie can be more painful than the death of a close human being. The same might apply to other dogs I guess. If you're really interested, you could look at www.collieonwheels.co.uk.

This time, I've decided to start with a puppy, mostly because I have three grandchildren (7, 5 & 3) who also live in Guildford. This will give them the chance to grow up with a young dog.Four of the litter of eight at their birth home in Yeovil. Mine (at the front) is very quiet and shy.

I'm really determined to train this tiny new addition to the family as well as I possibly can. I have lots of previous experience but want to hone it to a new level. My 'mentor-at-a-distance' is Barbara Sykes a long term owner of Collies who lives in Yorkshire. Barbara has written several books, the most relevant of which are:

and...

(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Border-Collies-Barbara-Sykes/dp/1861262809/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Barbara+sykes&qid=1565641632&s=gateway&sr=8-2)

She's a dog trainer who reasons the way I do – 'think the way your dog does', 'don't spend time with treats, clickers' or (heaven forbid), 'punishment, but treat them with deep respect so that they come to depend upon and love you, and their best reward is in pleasing you'.

I suspect that I'll be quoting a lot from Barbara in coming weeks and months.

My new Collie puppy (no name yet) comes from a litter of eight in Yeovil in Somerset. That's 110 miles to the West of my home. The litter was born on the 10th June 2019, so on the 17th August he'll be exactly nine weeks old. Three weeks ago I visited him in his litter in Yeovil. I saw his Dad (Sire) and his Mum (Dam). They were both lovely and his mum clearly showed that she was feeding eight hungry puppies. Their breeder has been breeding collies for 40 years and it appeared that there was nothing she didn't know about this special breed  She can be found at www.champdogs.co.uk as Taranza collies.

I'm ready for him at home, with a snug cage which will be his new safe home, dog food (more on this later), tray for his 'business' – the code word will be "Busy". I also have a new much smaller 24" cage for him to (initially) travel in, in the car. A first visit to the vet on Tuesday 20th August has been arranged for his first innoculations and initial examination by our nearby excellent vet (Oakbarn vets, Shalford).

I'm really excited about this new change to my life. I've felt bereft for months since the loss of my last collie. There are many adventures ahead of me which I look forward to sharing.